Research Capacity Building for Development Resources for Higher Education Institutions

1. Research Capacity Building for Development Resources for Higher Education Institutions A Presentation given at the Trinity Development Research Week 10 November 2010 Michael G Healy Mary GorettiNakabugo Mary Immaculate College, Limerick

2. About IAP • Irish-African Partnership for Research Capacity Building received funding from Irish Aid/Higher Education Authority (Ireland) under the Programme of Strategic Cooperation between Irish Aid and Higher Education and Research Institutes (2007-2011) and from Universities Ireland. • We acknowledge the support of all African and Irish HEIs partnering in the IAP, and all those who participated in the various project workshops, in particular the Malawi Summer School at Zomba in 2010 •  Sincere thanks to the authors of the chapters contained in the book

3. The IAP Concept • In recent years the Higher Education (HE) sector in Ireland has adopted a practical and effective role in international development • Development research in the HE sector is gradually becoming multi-disciplinary, mainly driven by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and linked priority areas - • water resources, food security, human rights, education, health, gender and climate change within the wider framework of development and inter-dependence • Collaboration in working towards an agreed global development agenda - • generating coherence among Irish HEIs, and national governments to achieve agreed objectives • The IAP project represents a new direction for Ireland’s international development agenda throughout the Higher Education and Research Institutes

4. The History of IAP Irish African Partnership Participating Institutions •  Dublin City University DCU • Makerere University Mak. • Mary Immaculate College MIC • National University of Ireland Galway NUI Galway • National University of Ireland Maynooth NUI Maynooth • Queen’s University Belfast QUB • Trinity College Dublin TCD • University College Cork UCC • University College Dublin UCD • University of Dar es Salaam UDSM • Universidad Eduardo Mondlane UEM • University of Limerick UL • University of Malawi UNIMA • University of Ulster UU • The Centre for Cross Border Studies CCBS

5. IAP’s Key Work Packages • Stakeholder consultation • Foresight • Web-portal • Metrics • 5 international workshops • Knowledge exchange and skills sharing • Dissemination of good practice

6. The IAP Workshops • DCU April 2008 (Launch with HEI Heads) • Entebbe Nov 2008 (The foresight exercise and stakeholder consultations) • Maputo May 2009 (Development of research clusters) • Zomba March 2010 (Malawi Summer School) • Belfast Sept 2010 (Project summary and way forward)

7. Zomba Summer School - The Knowledge Exchange Topics i) Research Management ii) Research Bid Writing iii) Research Finance iv) Human Resource Management v) The Role of Information and Communications Technology in RCB vi) Graduate Schools, Graduate Supervision and Structured PhD Programmes

8. The purpose of Research Capacity Building for Development: Resources for Higher Education Institutions • To capture the flavour and spirit of the Zomba workshop • To provide a basis on which to model Knowledge Transfer for the future • To provide templates and content information for the delivery of similar events at regional – local level for partner HEIs

9. Background to the RCB Resource Book • The stakeholder consultation findings • A number of African research personnel felt disadvantaged in pursuing research opportunities by a deficit of process-related skills (e.g. bid writing, research mgt, etc) • The Oct 2009 two-day DCU workshop – IAP senior research personnel agreed to develop a trainer of trainers summer school programme (refer to the summer school topics)

10. Delivery of the Summer School (Malawi, March 2010) • Partnership model (African and Irish facilitators + participants) • Articulation between academic and other management, administrative and support structures e.g. Research Office, Finance, ICT and library (70+ participants in total) • Participatory ‘Knowledge Exchange’ approach

11. Outcomes of the Malawi Summer School • Conferred practical benefits for building research support capacity (interdependence of structures) • Equipped research management staff and research support officers with improved skills for sourcing and managing research projects and resources.

12. What next after the summer school? • Effectively disseminate the ideas • Make it possible for partners to replicate but adapt the training to their local contexts • Development of transferrable resources based on the key learning acquired from the summer school

13. Key messages in the Resource Book 1) Given the global challenges e.g. as reflected in the MDGs, there is value in making HE research and teaching relevant to development. • The need to build capacity of HEIs to engage in the above. (Chapt 1 Healy & Nakabugo; Chapt 2 McEvoy).

14. Key messages in the Resource Book… 2) With limited funding for research coming from national governments, there is need to build the capacity of staff to bid for funding from other sources - (Chapt 4, Kee, Mark & Mugimu)

15. Key messages in the Resource Book… 3) There is need to institute research management systems in HEIs to support research excellence and enhance the quality and quantity of research outputs/outcomes - The need to build capacity of staff in the Research Office, Finance Office and Human Resources to offer expert advice to other staff (Chapt 3 Raftery & Nasinyama; Chapt 5 Bennett & Jeremiah; Chapt 6 Grey & Tesha)

16. Key messages in the Resource Book… 4) The preceding would be facilitated by good practice in staff selection and management to ensure that the right people are recruited, developed and retained. - (Chapt 6 Grey & Tesha)

17. Key messages in the Resource Book… 5) Quality graduate education at Masters and PhD level is essential for students who wish to conduct high quality research with a high development impact. - The need to enhance the capacity of personnel whose task is to improve graduate research and education in HEIs at different levels. (Chapt 7 Fagan & Miguel)

18. Key messages in the Resource Book… 6) Reliable, accessible, high speed Internet and network connectivity is a fundamental requirement for the conduct of high-quality and high-impact research. - The need to develop the capacity of staff in HEIs to embrace elements of ICTS that are directly relevant to RCB e.g. NRENs, Research Support Systems, Digital Repositories and E-Learning technologies that support research-led teaching. (Chapt 8 Grimson et al.)

19. Key messages in the Resource Book… 7) How do we ensure that good practice is not only replicated but also adapted to different contexts as appropriate? - The need for flexible exemplar instructional packages... (Chapt 9 IAPRCB)

20. Conclusion • It is hoped that Annual summer schools on general research management and specific themes for emerging project teams will be a significant feature of IAP Phase 2. RCB is an on-going process... - Research Capacity Building for Development: Resources for Higher Education Institutions will be a valuable tool to help upscale the learning approach and gains first piloted in Malawi.